Operations Research and Analytics in Latin America

This book gathers a selection of peer-reviewed research papers presented at the joint IV ASOCIO/XIX IISE Region 16 Conference held in Chia and Bogota, Colombia. The conference was organized by the Universidad de La Sabana’s Research Group on Logistics Systems, in partnership with Chapters #782 (Universidad de La Sabana), #712 (Universidad Sergio Arboleda) and #988 (Universidad de Los Andes) of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). The main emphasis of the book is on modelling and solving business-related problems in operations research, and on applying descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics and the management sciences to actual decision-making in organizations. Both theoretical developments and algorithm implementation are presented. A special focus is given to business problems arising in emerging economies, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This book is addressed to academics, practitioners, postgraduate students and researchers in operations research, analytics and industrial engineering, as well as to undergraduate students for educational purposes. In particular, the book will appeal to the academic and research community in Latin America and the Caribbean, as it presents projects developed and implemented there. Higher education engineering programs will benefit from the findings and insights shared in the fields of industrial engineering, operations research and analytics, applied mathematics, and computer science and engineering.

Jairo R. Montoya-Torres is a Full Professor, Director of the doctoral program in engineering, and Director of the doctoral program in logistics and supply chain management at the School of Engineering, Universidad de La Sabana, Chia, Colombia. He holds a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne, France and the Université Jean Monnet, France, and the Accreditation for Research Supervision (“Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches” HDR) in logistics and operations research from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) de Lyon and Université Claude Bernard Lyon, France. His research interests include sustainability and collaborative decision-making in scheduling, vehicle routing, supply chain design and urban logistics using advanced optimization, simulation and hybrid techniques. He is a Founding Member of the Colombian Operations Research Society (ASOCIO) and was also its President and Vice President.

William J. Guerrero is an Associate Professor at the School of Engineering, Universidad de La Sabana, Chia, Colombia. He holds a Ph.D. in systems optimization and dependability from Université de Technologie de Troyes (France) and a Ph.D. in engineering from Los Andes University, Colombia. He also holds a master’s in industrial engineering with a focus on operations research. His research interests include combinatorial optimization and heuristics for humanitarian and hospital logistics and supply chains, and the vehicle routing problem and its extensions. He also has experience in European projects under the H2020 research and innovation program ePICenter, focused on developing disruptive technologies for global supply chains.

David L. Cortés-Murcia is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Research Group on Logistics Systems of the School of Engineering at the Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in industrial engineering from Escuela Colombiana de Ingeniería Julio Garavito and his Ph.D. in optimization and systems reliability from Université de Technologie de Troyes (France). His research interests include sustainable logistics, electric vehicle routing optimization and simulation in Colombia and France, as well as supply chain design, green logistics and operations research.